Jets, With Fitzpatrick Back at Quarterback, Top Ravens to Halt Skid

The Jets’ Matt Forte running the ball against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.Credit
Ben Solomon for The New York Times

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Jets had promised rebirth. Change was afoot: a new quarterback, a more aggressive defense, a lighter schedule. They were done repeating mistakes.

It was all well and good, until the new quarterback left Sunday’s game with a leg injury. Then the old quarterback jogged toward the huddle, gave a wink and said, “What’s up, guys?” The Jets had arrived back where they started.

Last week, Ryan Fitzpatrick was forced to choke down the possibility that his time as an N.F.L. starter might be over. Instead, his inglorious demotion to the bench lasted less than 26 minutes, or eight passes by Geno Smith, before a right knee injury knocked Smith from Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens at MetLife Stadium.

It is a morbid testament to the absurdity of the Jets that all this confusion catalyzed the team’s attack, with Fitzpatrick leading the team to a 24-16 win that ended a four-game losing streak.

The Jets (2-5) rallied behind the veteran Fitzpatrick, who completed his first seven passes, including four on a touchdown drive right before halftime. He was 9 of 14 for 120 yards over all, and he finished with a passer rating above 100 for the first time since Week 2.

After the game, Fitzpatrick called out the team’s owner, Woody Johnson, and General Manager Mike Maccagnan and Coach Todd Bowles, accusing them of deserting him.

“The biggest thing in this game, in order to last, is to have belief in yourself,” Fitzpatrick said. “Because when the owner stops believing in you, the G.M. stops believing in you, and the coaches stop believing in you, sometimes all you have is yourself. That’s something I’ve had to deal with before, something I’m dealing with now.”

Asked to clarify, Fitzpatrick said, “When you get put on the bench, I think that’s the reason why.”

It had been a short week to address a long list of deficiencies for the Jets. There were the penalties, 10 of them in last Monday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals, signaling a lack of discipline and restraint. There was the defense, looking so full of holes lately that it could be used to drain pasta.

And perhaps most alarming, there was the quarterback. Fitzpatrick’s passer rating was last in the league. After benching him in the fourth quarter against the Cardinals, Bowles initially voiced support. A day later, Bowles wavered. A day after that, he announced that Smith would start.

Smith was not an ideal alternative, but Bowles said the team needed a spark. On Sunday, he looked composed and eager. The Jets eased him in with short routes. His biggest play was a shallow cross that wide receiver Quincy Enunwa turned into a 69-yard touchdown, beating two defensive backs to daylight.

On a third down with eight minutes remaining before halftime, Smith scrambled to his left and was tackled from behind by linebacker Matt Judon. Smith’s right leg bent awkwardly. He grimaced and limped to the trainer’s table.

Fitzpatrick came on and instantly got the ball moving. He found wide receiver Charone Peake for an 8-yard gain on a third down and then floated the ball over the middle to wide receiver Brandon Marshall for 21. A sneaky end-around by wide receiver Robby Anderson took the Jets into the red zone. Then Fitzpatrick flicked the ball on a shallow screen to running back Matt Forte, who glided 13 yards for the score with 1 minute 45 seconds left in the half.

A field goal by Justin Tucker as time expired at the break put Baltimore ahead by 16-14, but it seemed as if the Ravens could do whatever they wanted on offense. Joe Flacco had thrown for 200 yards in the first half, completing 15 of 22 passes.

That all changed in the second half. Baltimore’s rushing game was nonexistent (6 total yards on 12 carries), and Flacco faced a suddenly energized secondary.

Buster Skrine intercepted Flacco’s pass and returned it 51 yards to put the Jets in position for an eventual 22-yard field goal by Nick Folk with just over five minutes left in the third. On the next Baltimore drive, Flacco was intercepted again, this time by safety Marcus Gilchrist, who ran the ball to the Ravens’ 24. On the ensuing drive, Forte wound up fumbling the ball near the goal line, the Ravens recovered it, and then Marshall punched the ball right back out. The Jets pounced on it at the 5, and Forte eventually rushed the ball in to give the Jets an 8-point advantage.

“That was a huge play in the game, a huge turning point,” Forte said.

Smith eventually returned to the sideline, wearing street clothes. He is expected to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging test, but he said he felt fine.

“I was begging to go back out there,” he said.

But this time, the Jets stayed with Fitzpatrick. In the end, they managed to change something. For the first time in five weeks, they won.

A version of this article appears in print on October 24, 2016, on Page D5 of the New York edition with the headline: Fitzpatrick, Summoned From Bench, Helps Jets End Skid. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe